President Evo Morales

President Evo Morales seeks a new mandate for his socialist agenda today in a nationwide referendum that reflects deep divisions in this troubled South American nation. Morales, his vice president and eight state governors face recall votes that could throw them all out of office. Polls indicate that Morales is likely to retain his job, though several governors who oppose his policies could lose theirs. A tense atmosphere prevails across the country.

Faced with mounting political opposition and the specter of crippling strikes, Bolivian President Evo Morales late Friday night reversed his recent decision to slash gasoline and diesel subsidies, a move that led to a near-doubling of fuel costs. Morales called a New Year's Eve news conference to say he wanted to spare the nation further upheaval after a week of protests that turned violent Thursday. The nation had been bracing for a strike and demonstration Monday by powerful miners unions.

Bolivian constitution: An item in Monday's Section A about Bolivia's draft constitution said it would allow President Evo Morales to run for reelection indefinitely. It will not. Last-minute changes stipulate that a president may serve no more than two consecutive five-year terms, according to Morales. The governing party said Morales' current term does not count toward the limit.

The landslide reelection of Bolivia's leftist President Evo Morales this week comes as no surprise. He is the first Aymara Indian and native Quechua-speaker to lead the country, whose indigenous majority was underrepresented and widely exploited for centuries by a minority of European descent. A new Constitution, drafted under his stewardship, codifies Bolivia's "plurinational" character and cultural diversity. He nationalized the energy and telecommunications industries, raised taxes on foreign firms and delivered on promises to use income from natural resources to fund programs for the poor.

President Evo Morales said Bolivia does not need U.S. help to control its coca crop, stepping up his anti-Washington rhetoric days after rejecting a U.S. request to fly an anti-drug plane over the South American nation's territory. Morales also compared U.S. counter-narcotics efforts in the country to espionage. U.S. Embassy spokesman Eric Watnik said the Drug Enforcement Administration makes periodic requests to fly a plane transporting U.S. and Bolivian anti-narcotics personnel around the country.

President Evo Morales named a military leader to replace the governor of a rebel province who was arrested last week, accused of organizing an ambush of government supporters that killed 15. Navy Rear Adm. Landelino Bandeiras was sworn in as interim governor of Pando; he said his mission would be to pacify the northern state, which has been the site of the worst recent violence in a dispute between Morales and opposition-controlled provinces over...

President Evo Morales has decided to buy a presidential plane from Russia after Moscow offered to set up an aircraft maintenance center in the South American nation. Defense Minister Walker San Miguel announced in early August that Bolivia had agreed to purchase an Antonov presidential plane with satellite phone, Internet links and a meeting room from Russia for $30 million. Morales postponed the purchase, but said his government has now decided to buy it because of the offer to set up a service center for Russian planes in Bolivia.

President Evo Morales acknowledged for the first time in his nearly three years in office that a portion of coca grown in the country is used to make cocaine. Morales, who remains the leader of Bolivia's coca-growing unions, also said that his government is aware that some farmers are violating a law that limits each family to planting a little less than half an acre of coca for medicine and food. "Not all of our coca goes to legal markets," Morales told union leaders during a speech broadcast on government radio Patria Nueva.

President Evo Morales called for an about-face in relations with Washington on Thursday, saying past diplomatic spats could be overcome if the new U.S. government refrained from meddling in Bolivia's affairs. Morales met with U.S. envoy Thomas Shannon, the assistant secretary of State for Western Hemisphere affairs, who said their talks were a "good start" toward improving ties. Morales had expelled the U.S.

President Evo Morales on Saturday accused an opposition governor of using foreign thugs against government supporters in violence that has claimed at least 18 lives and prompted him to declare martial law in one province. In a bid to defuse the bitter dispute over a new constitution and land reform that threatens to tear apart the poor Andean nation, Chile called for an emergency meeting Monday of South American leaders. "A larger tragedy has to be avoided," said Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a strong ally of Bolivia's leftist president, confirming that he would attend the meeting.

President Evo Morales has decided to buy a presidential plane from Russia after Moscow offered to set up an aircraft maintenance center in the South American nation. Defense Minister Walker San Miguel announced in early August that Bolivia had agreed to purchase an Antonov presidential plane with satellite phone, Internet links and a meeting room from Russia for $30 million. Morales postponed the purchase, but said his government has now decided to buy it because of the offer to set up a service center for Russian planes in Bolivia.

President Evo Morales called for an about-face in relations with Washington on Thursday, saying past diplomatic spats could be overcome if the new U.S. government refrained from meddling in Bolivia's affairs. Morales met with U.S. envoy Thomas Shannon, the assistant secretary of State for Western Hemisphere affairs, who said their talks were a "good start" toward improving ties. Morales had expelled the U.S.

President Evo Morales on Monday ordered a U.S. diplomat to leave the country, alleging he was conspiring with opposition groups. The leftist leader also expelled the U.S. ambassador six months ago. Morales said that "deep investigations" had determined that the U.S. Embassy's second secretary, Francisco Martinez, "was in permanent contact with opposition groups." The U.S.

The last U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents left Bolivia on Thursday after having been ordered out by President Evo Morales, even as Bolivian police report that coca cultivation and cocaine processing are on the rise. Morales demanded the DEA's exit in November as part of a bitter dispute between U.S. and Bolivian officials that included his expulsion of U.S. Ambassador Philip Goldberg and the Bush administration's decertification of Bolivia's anti-drug effort.

Voters appeared to have handed Bolivian President Evo Morales a resounding victory Sunday, with exit polls showing they had approved a new constitution that will advance indigenous rights, strengthen state control over natural resources and permit him to seek another term. Morales addressed a cheering crowd in the plaza before the presidential palace here Sunday night to claim victory and declare that "Bolivia has been re-founded" and that "neoliberalism has been defeated."

President Evo Morales acknowledged for the first time in his nearly three years in office that a portion of coca grown in the country is used to make cocaine. Morales, who remains the leader of Bolivia's coca-growing unions, also said that his government is aware that some farmers are violating a law that limits each family to planting a little less than half an acre of coca for medicine and food. "Not all of our coca goes to legal markets," Morales told union leaders during a speech broadcast on government radio Patria Nueva.